Any recommendations for kids clubs/ activities (age 3).. Would be much appreciated!

Hi,
We just moved from North london to Forest Hill (Perry Rise) two weeks ago and are loving it here. Because we moved quickly we haven’t managed to get a nursery place for our daughter aged 3 until sept 17 but we’d love to know if anyone can recommend any classes/activities or children’s centres around the area. I’ve searched to see if a list of kids activities exists and not found much so far. Any recommendations would be much appreciated. (We’ve been at Mayow park most days, the Horniman, the sand-pit, etc… Looking more for something organised so she can make some friends).
Thanks!
Will

Hi there, we have just moved to the area as well and I asked a question on the SE23 mums Facebook page. I had actually asked about playgrounds in the area but a lot of mums read it as playgroups and gave me quite a few suggestions. A few of them recommended the Hoop app which lists all kids’ activities in your local area. https://hoop.co.uk

I’m not sure if you were looking for private nursery places but my daughter just started at a new nursery called Creative Stars Day nursery and seems to really like it so far.
https://m.facebook.com/pg/creativestarsdaynursery/photos/?mt_nav=1

Hi Will

Welcome to FH

We have a couple of things at the library which are always well attended & sure your daughter will make some friends there.

Tuesdays 10am Songs & stories
Thursday’s 2pm Baby bounce, which is ideal for 2-3yr olds

Also as Creative Stars has been mentioned why not pop along to their funday fundraiser tomorrow (Sat 29/4) 2-6pm, info below.

And feel free to pop into my shop for a chat about what’s going on locally when you’re passing

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Hi Divya and Pauline,
Thank you both for your replies. We will definitely have a look at the places you suggest. The nursery sounds good and hopefully we’ll make it to their fundraiser tomorrow (although I’ve just seen that Dacres Wood has an open day too, which looks fun!).
And yes, Pauline, will pop in to say hi when we pass your shop… When we get a chance to check out the library! Thanks again,
Will

Hi Will,

Lewisham council run quite a few classes throughout the week Search for “Eliot and Kelvin” on facebook and you will find a timetable for the Summer term was posted on 18th April. Most classes are free or have a nominal fee.
The Bambino Latino session run on Tuesdays at 9.30 is recommended.

Thanks Sassy_shores, just had a look at timetables you suggested and at lewi sham website… Also found another children’s centre at Kilmorie school that is a bit closer for us. Thanks again

The Muddy Boots forest school at Devonshire Rd Nature Reserve is always fun. Mondays and Fridays at 10am, £7 on an ad hoc basis. Holly who runs it has a page on Facebook with further info - just search for ‘muddy boots at Devonshire Road nature reserve’.

Thanks Jon, that sounds cool too. I got rid of my Facebook a few years ago but sounds like I might need to get back on there soon!

hi @Will, I’m a local mum and recently launched my website for finding toddler activities as a public beta. We’re competing against Hoop but we’re targeted exclusively towards younger age groups (specifically under 5s) and our best coverage is in SE23. We have a lot of features missing from Hoop that are important for this age group, including searching by map, browsing timetables by venue and by the provider (even if they’re a franchise). I would seriously love to hear your feedback on it … please help us make it better!

https://www.happity.co.uk

Hi Sara,
Thanks for your message. I checked out your site… It’s pretty good actually! Was really good to be able to search within 0.5 or 1 mile from home and came up with some good suggestions. It was easy to use and navigate. I was a bit disappointed by how few free things were listed for kids but maybe that’s the area or the way the listings are added/featured.
Good luck with your site, I think it could be very popular.
My mum actually set up the uk’s first free child friendly listings in Camden in the 1970s… First it was called Under 3s Welcome and then changed name to We Welcome Small Children… Sort of like a Time Out magazine for parents and kids. Obviously then it was all non-for-profit, as were the events, and being printed, had a smaller potential audience.
They also used to give out awards to local businesses who were child friendly, quite a new thing back then (when McDonald’s even had a children’s train seating area, and was a real treat), and campaigned so that supermarkets would make checkouts universally wide-enough for a buggy, and nappy changing areas at airports etc.
Thankfully most places nowadays are ok with kids!

thanks for your feedback Will!! I’m glad you’ve been able to use the site. It’s really frustrating, but a lot of Children’s Centres are closing down (- they’re also really bad at publishing new timetables!). We’ve got round it slightly by filtering on Under £2, because there are a lot of community run activities by volunteers and churches. So hoping that helps.

There’s still lots more missing from the site I’m sure, and one of the things we need to do is encourage more user feedback / suggestions on things to add. I’d welcome any ideas you have! I run a facebook group behind the scenes if you’d like to join: https://www.facebook.com/groups/happityJourney

Thanks!